This invention relates to a footpad device that is removably attached to a wheelchair's footplate and more particularly to a footpad device specifically dimensioned to correct the posture of a person with bare feet sitting in the wheelchair fitted to that person while wearing shoes. Also, the footpad device is made of a flexible water resistant material to help support bare feet when they are wet and is shaped to help prevent bare feet from slipping off the side of the footplate.
A wheelchair is normally fitted to the specific person who will be using that wheelchair for an extended period of time. A properly fitted wheelchair is necessary to ensure proper body alignment and to preserve skin integrity. Typically, a licensed physical or occupational therapist will measure the full length of a person's body in order to identify those seating dimensions which will effectively fit the wheelchair to that person.
The seating dimensions of a wheelchair influence multiple physical characteristics of the person using that wheelchair. These physical characteristics include the angle at which a foot is supported when placed on a footplate. This angle has a direct affect on a person's knee to foot extension and the position of that person's thighs within the wheelchair. These characteristics, in turn, directly affect a person's hip and back alignment within the wheelchair. Proper alignment of all these physical characteristics is necessary to achieve a proper balance within the wheelchair and to help prevent unnecessary skin pressure over an extended period of time which often results in skin breakdown.
The alignment of a wheelchair starts with the placement of the footplate at a position which keeps each foot flexed at a 90 degree angle relative to the lower leg. As discussed above, the footplate's placement directly affects the alignment of a person's hips and knees while seated in the wheelchair. A one degree offset in a foot's angle is enough to compromise that person's balance within the wheelchair and will result in harm to that person's joints and skin over an extended period of time. A person is normally measured for a wheelchair while wearing shoes since it is assumed that the majority of time spent in the wheelchair will be while dressed. As such, the normal placement of the footplate does not provide for those times when a person is barefoot within the wheelchair. As a result, a person's bare feet will need to drop below the 90 degree angle to reach the fitted footplate. Consequently, their knee and hip angles will both be offset from their properly balanced positions.
A change in the hip angle will effectively offset the gluteus muscles which support the majority of the person's body weight against the wheelchair's seat. Moreover, an increase in the hip angle will cause the person to move forward in the wheelchair's seat. As a result, the knee angle is reduced, causing the posterior knee to come into contact with the wheelchair's seat and placing increased pressure on the skin. Also, the lower extremities rotate putting the lateral aspect of both knees in contact with the metal uprights of the footplate, which also puts increased pressure on the boney aspects of skin in that area of the lower leg. Lastly, both hips experience a shortening of the external rotator muscles making it more difficult to properly balance oneself in the wheelchair and properly align the lower back.
A bare foot that bends past the 90 degree angle to reach the footplate will hang off the front of the footplate and will press against the front edge of that footplate. A bare foot that hangs over the front of the footplate is likely to come into contact with obstacles while the wheelchair is in motion and at a greater risk of suffering cuts, scrapes and a broken toe. Moreover, since the footplate is normally made of metal or a hard plastic, a bare foot pressing against the footplate for an extended period of time will also suffer skin damage.
Accordingly, one purpose of this invention is to provide a footpad device that properly supports a person's bare feet while seated in a wheelchair fitted to that person while wearing shoes.
It is a further purpose of this invention to provide a footpad device that is water resistant and that is designed to help prevent bare feet from slipping off of the wheelchair's footplate.
It is a further purpose of this invention to provide a footpad device which is easily attached to and easily removed from a footplate thereby allowing a wheelchair to remain properly fitted to a person both when wearing shoes and when barefoot.
It is a further purpose of this invention to provide for a footpad device which supports bare feet at a height which may be incrementally adjusted using a system of stacked footpads of varying heights.